Sketchy style at Paris Fashion Weeks

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Honestly, my blog posts are like buses. You wait all month for one, and then two come along at once. So as promised a couple of hours ago, here are some sketches done over the last few seasons at Paris Fashion Weeks.

I like drawing during the interminable periods of waiting (waiting to get into a show, waiting for the show to start, waiting for friends or colleagues, like the marvellous catwalk photographer/guru Stephen Lock, after the show, waiting in a cafe before the next set of waiting begins). It helps while away the time until someone I know turns up; it makes me look much more carefully at what people in the audience are wearing (a bit like street-style photography); and when I look back through my sketches they take me straight back to the moment in which I drew them.

Audience at Barbara Bui, 30/9/10

So some of these are quick and simple, taking the few seconds that someone stands still in a crowd, and others are more detailed, worked up during a quiet moment or during the time it takes for someone to send a BBM (I actually like the quick ones best, but I’m interested to know what other people think – I haven’t shared them before). Some are pure fashion, and others are all about the city of Paris. Some are anonymous, from the back; while you might recognise one or two subjects, if you’re someone who frequents the fashion weeks. Some are better than others, too: sometimes I can sketch all day and not come up with a single decent picture; the next day I could be on a roll and turn out five in a row.

Hope you like them – the plan is to sketch a bit more around London this January, so I’m in practice for the next set of fashion weeks – I’ll try and remember to share the results.

PS They’re high-res, which is probably foolhardy, but I think it’s the nicest way to look at them. If you’d like to use one for something, please don’t nick it. Just email me.